Review: "Harley Davidson Road Trip" - Wii

Reviewed by Frank for FamilyFriendlyGaming

SCORE: 80 (out of 100)

Shameless marketing plugs have become very common place in the video game industry over recent years. This has never bothered us at Family Friendly Gaming. Most shameless marketing plugs have not been that great. In fact long time gamers are cynical towards these kinds of games. They have plenty of bullets in their guns from McDonalds games to Burger King games. Even Purina got into the mix at one point. We work very hard to be fair minded, and can think of fun games like the one Home Depot endorsed. There was also some good Cool Spot games in the past.

Harley Davidson Road Trip is all about driving down the open road. Or that was the assumption I had when I started playing this Wii game. There is a lot more to Harley Davidson Road Trip than I was expecting. There are levels where the player is required to take pictures of hidden items while touring a scenic spot. There are levels where the player gets to follow the leader, collect items, ride in formation, and have their picture taken.

The graphics in Harley Davidson Road Trip are decent. I found no camera issues, and the details looked okay. I have to admit I was expecting the worst when I heard Harley Davidson was on the cover. This is the Wii, so do not expect photo realistic images. The bikes look good in the showroom, and the background images look good while driving cross country. The graphics do get repeated, but there is some diversity to it. Harley Davidson Road Trip also saves the player from crashes. If you go out of control you quickly reset.

There are various radio stations in Harley Davidson Road Trip that play different tracks. The range of music is exceptional. There are sound bytes from certain characters throughout the game. This is where Harley Davidson Road Trip stumbles a little bit. These sound bytes can be re-used way too often. Some of them can also be very discouraging. I had to mute the TV the twentieth time I tried to beat a hard formation level. I got tired of hearing the same thing over and over again.

There are three sections with each kind of level in it. Each of these areas are different parts of the country. Complete one to unlock the other one. You earn credits while you play that can be used to purchase additional hogs. The downside to Harley Davidson Road Trip is there are only six motorcycles. Four family members can enjoy Harley Davidson Road Trip, which is a cool thing. Family Friendly Gaming was given a reviewable copy of this home console game. I still feel Harley Davidson Road Trip is worth the price of admission if you are looking for a motorcycle game on the Wii.

The controls in Harley Davidson Road Trip can take some getting used to. The acceleration and deceleration can take some getting used to. I have never driven a motorcycle so that may have something to do with it. I had real problems with the Pack Ride levels, especially during the transitions. All in all I had a lot of fun playing Harley Davidson Road Trip. I would have appreciated another way of unlocking levels than having to beat every level in one region. The free ride mode is really cool, and one of the best aspects of this game in my opinion.

So many racing games focus on the crashing. So many games that allow motorcycle racing love to show the driving bouncing along the pavement after a mistake is made. That may be realistic, but it gets old, and is certainly not family friendly. Harley Davidson Road Trip spares families from those images, and that goes a long ways. There are also cool things like taking pictures of hidden items in various locales. I want to see more games like this in the future. I will be recommending Harley Davidson Road Trip to friends and family members.

Graphics: 83%

Sounds: 69%

Replay/Extras: 85%

Gameplay: 73%

Family Friendly Factor: 88%

System: Nintendo Wii

Publisher: Destineer

Rating: ‘E’ - Everyone